skye1

Ambien works great for me, as long as...

• I take it on a full stomach, after a meal. If I'm travelling in J, I'll do the dine-upon-request option to get the whole meal at once, and take the Ambien as I'm beginning dessert.
• I have gotten myself ready to sleep (changed into more comfortable clothes, or gotten eyeshades/earplugs ready, etc.) as it kicks in 15 min. after I take it.
• I've got a solid 5-6 hours of sleep time before I have to wake up. For example, I wouldn't take it JFK-LHR but def. would DFW-LHR and maybe ORD-LHR.

If I miss any of those, then yep, I may be dragging in the morning. But, if all that's done, I'm fine.

(altho' just IMHO, I'll NEVER do the JFK-LHR overnights again, as IMHO, it's just too "short" of a flight for a decent night's sleep, regardless of ticketed cabin, regardless of sleep aid).

shiv666

red wine is the key... i still say its better than popping strange pills with strange side effects...

if hes really keen on sleeping on the flight, he could just stay awake for a longer time before takeoff or avoid sleeping the night before...it will induce a safer and more natural fatigue...then he can get on the plane and sleep easier since he will be more tired than usual...

DESMOINESguy

I've bad and good experiences with Ambien. I typically use it on long red eyes, like US-Asia. As it is a hypnotic, I sometimes feel like I am just zoned out, or semi awake, instead of sleeping. More than once I've said to myself, "the Ambien didn't work, I didn't get hardly any sleep," and then I look at my watch and realize that 4 or 5 hours have passed without any memory of them. I've also had weird hallucinatory events with Ambien, like opening my eyes and believing I was at an ice cream social in a church basement instead of on a 747. I have also had amnesia events, like not remembering deplaning and doing the luggage carosel, later in the day.

It kicks in very quickly for me after I take it. I have learned to never take Ambien until I'm ready for sleep immediately. Alcohol, for me, greatly amplifies the effect, at least at first. One time, as the dinner service was beginning, I decided to take my Ambien as the carts were headed in my direction. I figured it would be better to take it on an empty stomach (don't think it much matters, actually). A few hours later I awaken and say to my travelling companion, "are they ever going to serve dinner". She looked at me and said, are you nuts, they served dinner two hours ago and you ate it and drank two glasses of wine. I had no memory of it whatsoever. Spooky. So, I still take Ambien, think it helps, but I am cautious, and prefer to be travelling with someone who can watch over me.

shiv666

ambien has been known to cause sleepwalking with some people...in this case, sleepfeasting....

Hisgirl

I have trouble sleeping on planes so I took an Ambian on a ATL trip to Edinburgh. Big mistake. Did I sleep? Yep, I woke up to the sunrise coming up over the wing as we crossed the UK border.

HOWEVER...as the day wore on, this odd memory began creeping in of a thoroughly detailed conversation I'd had with my 18-yr-old daughter the night before about circumcision. That's right....CIRCUMCISION. Great gory details about the pros and cons including graphic descriptions. Good Heavens ABOVE!!

I asked her if this bizarre conversation had actually occurred and she blushed and said, "Um..*cough*...yes, Mom...it did seem a little out of the ordinary for you."

Thank GOD I wasn't sitting next to a stranger! So no more Ambian for me!!

mordecai

I've always had great luck with Ambien. I know others who have had the side effects mentioned here, but for me, taking 1 pill helps me sleep on red-eyes and then helps me adjust to the time changes. I use it more to help me fall asleep rather than to keep me asleep. I also make sure to be hydrated before taking. I've woken up with headaches after taking it without enough water.

AbuDonut

For me its Halcion...I always get a wierd hangover with Ambien. Halcion works faster keeps you asleep longer and you don't get a hangover.

Before the overnights my routine is pretty set.

Eat a healthy but not huge lunch...that's my last meal.
I always fly J so I take the first glass of bubbly I can find and as soon as we are wheels up I take my pill (don't do it before b/c if the flt gets delayed or something you can have a hard time keeping your eyes open.

Then another glass of wine and I wake up over shannon for breakfast.
Don't eat dinner it just makes me feel sick.

ndot

I'm a big fan of Sonata^^

Half life is only 1 hour, it gets you over the hump of falling asleep initially, but doesn't zonk you out if you need to wake up in an emergency or breakfast service has started and you are hungry.

It's also flexible, in that you can take a second dose if you wake up and still have time for another few hours of sleep. So the same medication works for US-EU redeyes which are too short for safe use of Ambien, as well as US-Asia flights which may allow for more sleep than a single dose of Sonata would provide.

sfo

In all my life I have never used drugs except an asprin here and there. Now I am traveling to Europe and to Asia and South America 3 or 4 times a year. My Dr prescribed some tablets"Co_Zopiclone 7.5mg. It puts me to sleep for about 5 hours. Absolutely no after affects what so ever. I treally puts one out. I do not drink alcohol on the flight prior to taking it. I always inform my seat mate that will be taking it, just in case. Knocks me out completely. I only use it when flying over night or a flight from Asia, It works for me.

ralfp

FYI: Lunesta (eszopiclone) is, for all intents and purposes, zolpiclone (I wonder if the name was intended to mean "clone of zolpidem"). Eszopiclone is the active stereoisomer of zolpiclone, so 7.5mg of zolpiclone = 3.75mg of eszopiclone.

Wikipedia article.

Of the three z-drugs (not including extended release forms like Ambien CR), zopiclone lasts the longest.

None that you can remember.

zigzagg900

There's no direct relationship between Ambien and DVT (deep vein thrombosis), i.e. it's not an adverse effect. The concern is the lack of movement while asleep. If you're lying on a flat-bed seat, that's fine. However, if you're stuck in sardine class, you may be scrunched up with legs in a bent position for hours while you're under the effects of the medication. This is what increases the risk for DVT.

I've heard people taking aspirin before a flight. Aspirin is an effective blood thinner if you're not allergic to aspirin, not prone to stomach problems, and not taking other blood thinners like warfarin.

I caution against taking any prescription sleep medication without being aware of how it effects you personally. For 90% of the population a certain drug may have no adverse effect, but would you want to be that 10%?

Personally I don't take sleep medications on flights. Watching a bad in-flight movie usually does the trick

Boraxo

Exactly. I don't think you need an MD (or any degree) to understand the concept.

Taking ambien doesn't ensure you will get DVT, but sleeping for hours in a cramped position with blood pooling in your legs will greatly increase the risk. See http://www.preventdvt.org/ for more information. According to this website, more than 300,000 people per year die from pulmonary embolisms. They get off the plane and - boom - they're dead.

ralfp

Air travel kills 300,000 people a year? 9/11 was just a statistical anomaly?

I doubt that air travel is associated with even 1% of those cases.

k_sheep

I'd say the vast, vast majority of those are a post-surgical complication, or in those with a pro-thrombotic disease (such as factor V leiden).

PVDProf

It works well for me. I'm not fast to fall asleep, so I started using it a couple years ago when I had several short (6 hr) redeyes. It works well, gets me ~5hrs of sleep, and doesn't give me a hangover. No reports of strange (or stranger than usual) behavior.

I got to test the "what if I really needed to function?" scenario last summer, when I took it when I boarded, but then took a VBD: I had to get off the plane, get my negotiated payment, get rerouted acceptably, go check in with another airline, and kill four hours in the airport. I was spacy--no driving--but not worse than being a little drunk.